The following was originally published on the Instituto C&A website on 9 October 2014. The original article can be found here.

São Paulo (SP) – Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS) has been divulging around the world the Global Philanthropy Data Charter. In Brazil, GIFE (Group of Institutes, Foundations and Enterprises) and Instituto C&A are WINGS’ partner in the process. The three institutions are signatories of the document, produced in a collaborative manner through the participation of 30 organizations from all five continents.

Originally introduced in March during the 2014 WINGS Forum, the letter is part of the Global Consultation on Philanthropy Data project, executed with support from Instituto C&A. The initiative consists of the involvement of several institutions in the search of reliable and globally comparable data about philanthropy.

The proposal of this project is to generate strategic thinking about the scope and nature of challenges in accessing information about philanthropy; exploring paths to improve data collection; and working towards a common vision, as well as a set of principles, for organizing global philanthropy data.

The letter seeks to define values regarding the collection and use of data in order to prepare a guide for studying, managing and disseminating information. Some of the themes addressed in the document include access, data quality, knowledge sharing and ownership, privacy, and use of information.

According to Ana Pinho, coordinator of the project at WINGS, there is more and more demand worldwide for concrete and comprehensive data on philanthropy. “The letter fosters a culture of data and collaborations, so that they not only be collected, but also be comparable, in order to strengthen the sector and allow for a diagnosis of strengths and challenges that need to be mastered,” she said. Ana also said that the letter will help the private social investment field become more transparent.

To divulge this action throughout the world, WINGS recently launched http://philanthropydata.wingsweb.org/. The tool presents the letter in its original format with translations in Portuguese, Chinese and Russian. “The objective is for the charter to have a global reach. And, therefore, we are joining efforts to translate it into different languages. The expectation is to receive more translations,” said.

According to the coordinator, partners of the initiative around the world are also disseminating the document in spaces such as conferences and institutional websites. So far, 14 countries are signatories of the charter.

According to Janaina Jatobá, manager of Instituto C&A’s Institutional and Community Development area, the orientation provided by the charter will allow Brazil to dialogue with other countries and discover where it stands in relation to philanthropy.

“We do not have a clear scenario of philanthropy in the country. But in order to work in this field, we need to know who we are,” she said. “We need to produce quantitative and qualitative data to guide our social action. We need technical knowledge to cause impact, and Instituto C&A’s support to this action stems precisely from this concern," said Janaína.

According to André Degenszajn, secretary-general of Gife, the charter is a tool directly used by all those that collect or work with data. “For investors, it is fundamental to have reliable data, in order to guide their investment strategies,” he said. Degenszajn believes that the process of preparing the charter was important, but only its effective incorporation by other institutions will define the project’s impact.

WINGS is an organization that encompasses philanthropic associations and institutions that support the sector in 35 countries. Founded in the late 1990s, the organization is the result of animated discussions regarding the future of philanthropy worldwide, conducted in international meetings where GIFE played a leading role. Since 2011, WINGS’ headquarters are located in São Paulo, Brazil.